Leading More Sustainable Communities – The purpose of the Times Square Shuttle Project is to upgrade deficient subway station platform components and alleviate congestion to improve circulation, safety, and overall operations for New York City’s busiest subway complex. By improving the efficiency of this station, this project inherently improves systems integration within the overall MTA subway system, as well as with other social, economic, and infrastructure systems within the broader NYC community. As a leader in sustainability, the City of New York maintains several evaluations, reports, analyses, and sets of goals and guidance documents to govern the sustainability of the city’s infrastructure, and MTA New York City Transit has further adopted agency-specific policies to ensure that sustainability is incorporated at the project level. The Times Square Shuttle Project is consistent with all of these planning documents and policies.

Improving Sustainable Community Mobility – The Times Square Shuttle project improves access to public transportation and alleviates congestion to provide better connections to jobs, education, and other critical community services. Prior to construction, the subway’s entrances and corridors were too narrow, creating problems for accessibility, efficiency, and safety. By reconfiguring the subway platforms and adding more subway cars, this project expands access and mobility, in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines, to simplify transportation for customers between the city’s busiest transit hubs. The new operation will alleviate circuitous paths and increase total peak-hour train capacity by 20 percent. By improving accessibility and connections at this busy station, this project encourages more sustainable mass transportation by enhancing the quality and efficiency of MTA’s overall transportation network.

Enhancing Public Space & Local Character – Previously, stakeholders reported that the Times Square station offered only limited, cramped street access to the station below. This project reconfigures platforms and columns to increase public space, thus providing more efficient mobility for passengers and more room to appreciate the enhanced aesthetics of the station. Originally opened in 1904 as two of the original NYC Subway Stations, both the Times Square and Grand Central ends of the 42^nd Street corridor maintain many of their original historic fixtures and finishes, which this project not only preserved, but restored. However, the Times Square neighborhood itself has evolved significantly since 1904 – known today for its bright lights and flashy aesthetics – and the project team sought to bring some of that character down into the station with updated lighting and new unique and colorful artwork.

Reducing Negative Environmental Impacts – As a demonstration of commitment to sustainability, the project team prioritized environmental outcomes related to construction and operation, like reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions. Final construction documentation shows that an impressive 97.8% of all construction waste by volume for this project was diverted from landfills, and operational estimates suggest that greenhouse gas emissions over the operational life of the project will be reduced by 26% (which translates to 53% per rider). Since the station runs purely on electricity, and the project produces no other emissions, aggregated electricity usage was calculated both before and after the project and then converted to the equivalent carbon emissions in metric tons of CO². Adding two additional subway cars to the existing four-car train is expected to increase ridership by 50%, but it does not increase the amount of electricity needed to power the train, so the train inherently becomes more efficient per ride. Increased ridership also reduces reliance on alternative modes of transportation that consume more fuel, in turn further reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality and health.

Minimizing Construction Impacts – The project team minimized temporary construction inconveniences like noise, site safety and wayfinding, and limited access and mobility by staging the project to avoid a full extended closure of NYC’s busiest subway station. The project team was also intentional about communicating with local businesses regarding project progress, updates, and impacts.

“The Times Square-Grand Central Shuttle Rehabilitation and ADA Upgrade Project stands as one of the most transformational undertakings by the MTA, and it is a project I am particularly proud of in my career. Completed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, this initiative addressed numerous design and operational deficiencies of the shuttle, significantly enhancing the travel experience for millions of NYC Transit customers annually. By introducing an alternative passenger transfer connection, optimizing construction phasing, shortening the overall schedule, and maintaining subway operations throughout the process, this project set a new standard for MTA project delivery. The exceptional collaboration between the MTA, MLJ Contracting, and the NAIK Project Management team was key to its success.”

– Moe Soliman, Executive Vice President / Director of CM/PM Services, Naik Group

“The Times Square Shuttle Project is a testament to what can be achieved when vision, collaboration, and sustainability come together for the public good. By transforming one of New York City’s busiest transportation hubs, this project not only enhances operational efficiency and passenger safety, but it also exemplifies the power of innovative thinking in addressing the needs of a growing, dynamic city.”

– Anthony Kane, President & CEO, ISI